Performance Related Pay And Employee Rewards Management Essay

Performance Related Pay And Employee Rewards Management Essay Performance Related Pay (PRP) has been defined by several scholars including Armstrong (2002:261) and CIPD (2009). They suggested that PRP is a method of remuneration that provides individuals with financial rewards in the form of increases to basic pay or cash bonuses which are linked to an assessment of performance, usually in relation to agreed objectives. This definition captures what performance related pay is all about. In order to understand how PRP works in practice in relation to theories, it is been analysed with the help of the current practices which are prevalent in the organisations of repute. The organisation mentioned here is Mc Donalds which is also referred to as McD, which is a private sector fast food chain with 31,000 centres in 118 countries around the globe, McD uses performance related pay in order to motivate their staff, and also has different pay structures. The main aspects of performances related pay schemes have been identified as the nature of performan ce measures, assessment of the performance against fixed standards and how this is related to pay schemes (Kessler Purcell, 1992; cited in Thorpe Homan, 2000). PRP started becoming popular by the early 1980s and have been a major factor in the pay and reward scenes for many organisations. PRPs effect is more than just motivation alone; it is a significant phenomenon in the change management philosophy of the modern organisations. Now they have much more expectations thrust upon them like improving quality and skills, changing the work culture and promoting co-operation apart from the normal roles like recruit, reward and retain employees (Cannel Wood, 1992). In recent years people have been the key source to competitive advantage and it is not surprising on how employers try buying employee commitment. However the question of if the methods adopted are successful is still debated. Motivational theories can be traced back to the time of Taylorism and the theories have evolved from scientific management to Hawthorne, Maslow amongst others. However the report will focus on Vrooms 1964 expectancy theory on which PRP is based. According to CIPD (2009) there are three main objectives of PRP systems. Firstly it motivates employees to give their best performance by linking performance to the pay scales. Secondly PRP encourages the organisation to build up a strong high performance based organisational culture. Thirdly the fact of fair-trade policy. The better performed employee in the organisation gets the best monetary reward. The Expectancy Theory points out that management needs to communicate and disseminate information to employees that efforts will be recognised and rewarded also it is managements responsibility to establish schemes to reward the behaviour they want. Furthermore, the theory also implies that money is a significant motivator for most, and will usually alter our behaviour either by increasing or directing effort in specific directions to secure a higher salary or bonus payment. Also, it suggest that money is important not simply for its own sake, but because it is a means to achieve other ends (Taylor 2000:19). The theory has three central concepts. The first is Performance Outcome Expectancy which implies employee working in a particular way will yield foreseeable consequences while the Concept of Valence is the second. It examines the value derived from the outcome of behaviour and the final concept is Effort Performance Expectancy which examines employees perception of the likelihood of achieving a desired objective (Marchington and Wilkinson 2005). However PRP can not be discussed without looking at the old pay and new pay. The old pay was more compatible with traditional organisations structures and employment relationship in the 1970s and 1980s. The concept was characterised to be bureaucratic, based on incremental progression, lacks horizontal integration with other HR activities and it detached pay from the strategic objectives of the organisation (Philbeam and Corbridge 2006:231). The system faced lot of challenges because; pay had become a form of entitlement to employees, was not motivating and does not drive change. In contrast to the above, the main concerns of the old pay were fairness, consistency, equity and transparency but; was criticised for inhibiting organisational development in the twenty first century (Philbeam and Corbridge 2006:231). Lawler (1971) developed the new pay system which was in response to the issues raised in the old pay. It was the opposite of the old system which sets out to achieve challenges faced by the old system. The new pay was supposed to replace the old pay, he however stated that the new pay doesnt necessarily mean implementing new reward policies or abandon the traditional ones; it means identifying new pay practices that enhance the organisations strategic effectiveness (Lawler 1995:1). It was also suggested that the new pay helps link the financial success of the employee and the organisation, shows a connection between employee pay and performance and suggests that employee are rewarded when they exhibit a desirable behaviour (Tropman and McAdams 2001, Philbeam and Corbridge 2006). However, the new pay has since evolved giving birth to various forms of pay such as team based pay, competency pay, skills based pay et cetera. Performance related pay varies between sectors and the 1998 IPD research shows that PRP is used by 72% of employers in the financial services and 41% in the public sector (Armstrong 2002:266). Furthermore, the idea of linking a portion of pay directly to performance appraisal and to the achievement of specific performance objectives has proved particularly attractive to employers and such approaches are becoming popular in both the private and public sector (Taylor 2000:19). Moreover, PRP has a beneficial effect on employee performance and the achievement of organisation objectives and goals (Lawson 2000: 311). A typical example is when the bank introduced PRP in 2008. Here, monthly targets were given to employees and those who met their targets at the end of the month were rewarded in cash to encourage them, this is also applicable in the trust but the competition is between doctors. This worked for sometime but led to mistrust between employees. Employees began working on customer relationships that were not assigned to them and blacklisting of fellow colleagues with customers and senior management became the norm. This is supported by Marc Thompson (1992) who stated that new forms of pay can have a damaging impact on trust and working relations (Armstrong 2002:268). Similarly, PRP motivates and de-motivates employees at the same time. This is supported by Marchington and Wilkinson (2005) who identified from their research that 83.4% of the sample believes that PRP de-motivates while the others believe otherwise. Employees who meet their target are motivated to put in more effort some who have not met their targets will try keeping up with the drive however in a situation where a staff has met 99% of its target and their effort is not rewarded will lead to de-motivation and this will have a ripple effect for other staff will take up the attitude of why put in more effort when the organisation will not reward a colleague who met 99% of their target and this is applicable in both organisations. This also leads to lower job satisfaction on the part of the de-motivated employee and vice versa (Price 2007:484). However, the employer prefers PRP because it enables them pay few people more money rather than promoting the hardworking staff who has not me t their targets thereby saving cost. Again it depends on how effectively it works as a motivating tool to reflect organisational performance, employee development, loyalty, responsibility and the sense of achieving the organisational goals (LGE, 2008). . However employers use PRP to attract and retain people to their organisations by offering them competitive financial rewards. The basic assumption of employment is that services are exchanged for benefits which could come inform of money. Moreover, in an industry such as the financial services where PRP is a norm and the pay is competitive, staff retention is substantially important because; it may lead to the loss of business when the employee is recruited by a competitor and is offered higher pay. At the present situation of credit crunch most of the organisations are looking to reduce the number of employees as well as attract and retain only the employees who are high performing and multi skilled employees. Again high performing employees eight out of nine times is most likely to agree with the system of pay for performance and the organisations needs to put this scheme in order to attract and retain high performing employees (Thompson, 1992). In simple, establishing a standard f or measuring and rewarding for high performance can assist in retaining the most industrious employees. On the other hand it causes unfairness to the other employees because they get to share the target of the staff that leaves the organisation. This leads to the employer requiring the employee to put in more effort to achieve the new target under the same scheme. The doctors in the trust are not faced with this pressure because their targets are not financial and it lies more towards overtime hours and on call visits. One of the key concerns of the old pay was to promote fairness in the workplace. However PRP could lead to unfairness. PRP in both organisations is based on performance appraisal where the manager will recommend a staff for reward at the end of an appraisal period. In a situation where the manager recommends an average performer for PRP and does not recommend a top performer because the manager believes the employee has not done enough while it is evident to other managers and team members that it was the recommendation was a case of favouritism. This highlights a key issue affecting PRP which has been argued of not having a consistent method of judgement (CIPD 2009). The difference with the process in the bank is the entitlement of the employee to fill in their comment at the end of the appraisal and decide if the appraisal was fair or not based on listed reasons. This also cements the fact that PRP leading to conflict and in this case a rocky relationship between the appraiser and the appraise. Furthermore, CIPD (2009) suggest that linking of pay awards to performance review process may inhibit an open and honest discussion of an individuals training and development needs. This statement could be interpreted as PRP identifying developmental needs of the employee during appraisal process. Using the trust as an example the PRP scheme requires employees with the exception of doctors to present their continuous development plan (CPD) during appraisal period to show how they have developed, their future plans and the manager helps identify where the employee is lacking and how they can develop those areas. When compared to the process in the bank, there is no CPD presented during appraisal but the manager and employee identifies the areas where there is need for development to improve performance and make recommendations to management. However, both organisations only review the staff development at the next appraisal. It is assumed that team working yields better results. UNISON suggests that efficient and effective service depends on cooperation from staff Labour Research Development (1994:5). However PRP undermines team working because it does not put into consideration group efforts but it rather promotes individual working. The practice in both organisations promote team working but staff are only rewarded individually, which leads to uncooperativeness from team members, poor service delivery, de-motivation and it generally promotes poor performance. Marchington and Wilkinson (2005:341-342) states that with emphasis PRP places on individual performance-leads to a short-termist approach whereby individuals look for quick returns from small scale projects rather than addressing more fundamental problems. This shows PRP motivates better in short term compared to long term. The McDonald company lives up to the philosophy of Pay for Performance when it comes to rewarding their employees. While examining the situation in McD, it was noted that the organisation keep broadband pay data both internally and externally of the employees base salary after screening their performance which actually helps the employees to review their performance. McD offers TIP or Target Incentive Plan which is an incentive pay plan offered at corporate and regional employees helping them to link their pay to the performance in the sector they work. Kohn (1993) states that by and large, rewards succeed at securing one thing only: temporary compliance. When it comes to producing lasting changes in attitudes and behaviour, however, rewards, like punishment are strikingly ineffective.. there is no firm basis that paying people more will encourage people to better work or even in the long run, more work (Armstrong 2002:272). PRP is introduced to organisations to improve performance and maybe promote staff development during the process. However, it has been noted that with the existence of PRP in an organisation, there is a lesser drive for self development. People want to develop themselves initially to get be able to earn more money while a lesser percentage wants to improve their knowledge. PRP ensures people get the money, but de-motivates the staff on the long run while not accomplishing the initial goal which is to improve performance. Kohn (1993,1998) suggests that extrinsic rewards can erode intrinsic interest and that there is no firm basis for the assumption that paying people more will encourage people to better work or even in the long run more work (Armstrong 2002:272). Critique of the Performance Related Pay System Having examined performance related pay as a motivational instrument, it was noted that it is a widely used instrument in private and public sector organisations both nationally and internationally. It has proved overtime as a valid instrument for motivation but it has been criticised by various authors CIPD (2009) inclusive which states it has proved in some circumstances a rather crude instrument and the 1990s witnessed a number of challenges to the theory. It was also criticised of not been the only or even an effective motivator. According to Brown Heywood (2002) PRP increases the stress factor among the employees. most of the line managers having the view that staffs tends to put more pressure on themselves as they get motivated by the rewards and incentives which are put forwarded for individual performances and achieving set targets. The employees feel pressurised by the fact that their promotions and appraisals are heavily linked by the performance based approach. Because of this the workers tend to feel more stressed and can even lead to the breakdown of a staff member. Beer (1984) corroborates this while suggesting that when pay is tied to performance, it reduces the intrinsic motivation which comes when individuals are spontaneously involved in work because they are given freedom to manage and control their jobs also, it signals that it is management that is in control which reduces the individuals feeling of competence and self determination (Armstrong 2002:272). Several academics have criticised PRP as an instrument which promotes jealousness among staff which can lead to organisational conflict. However, Oswald (2002) disagrees with this and suggested that if salaries were confidential, then there s no way it can lead to conflict also he suggested that people should be paid on merit and effort (Wright 2004:122).PRP is measured using performance appraisal systems but the decisions of line managers makes reduces the viability of the process. PRP undermines team working and works more as a de-motivator rather than a motivator this is supported by Thompson (1993), Marsden and French (1998). While Pfeffer (1998) states that it is time consuming, undermines team working and it undermines the performance of both the organisation and individual in reality (Wright 2004:118). Conclusion The search for a positive relationship between PRP and performance as been described as looking for the holy grail (Fletcher and Williams 1992, Price 2007) while CIPD (2009) said it was the holy grail of the 1990s. Having examined PRP has a motivator, on reflection it shows it is a motivating instrument which is more applicable and effective in some industries compared to the others. Also, even though it has been criticised by several authors for its weaknesses, it shows that every theory has a weakness and its weakness has given birth to other forms of performance related pay thereby giving hope to more research on how performance can be improved in an organisation. The Labour Research Department (1999:2) quoting a personnel manager who stated money is really a de-motivator and a company that states the constant measuring of people against each other fed into staffs sense of job insecurity by generating evidence of failure to meet jobs. However, with its negative effect on performa nce, motivation, team working and the fact that the process could be subjective and expensive organisations are still applying it and trying to modify appraisal methods in order to get it right. Likewise the manager employee relationship is considered the main important factor in determining the success of PRP in an organisation (Thompson, 1992). However, Armstrong (2002:287) states that PRP has a limited power to provide incentive through financial means alone should be recognised, but that does not mean it should be rejected out of hand. It does work as a reward process in some circumstances and it does satisfy the basic principle that it is equitable to reward people who do well more than those who do badly.

Importance of Narrative in CGI Films

Importance of Narrative in CGI Films This essay will look at the importance of narrative in two CG animated films which are Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (Hironobu Sakaguchi, 2001) and The Incredibles (Brad Bird, 2004). The essay focuses specifically on the narrative and the spectacle of the films and how through the cinematic medium, they help each other to deliver a visual story across to the audience. The essay will discuss if a solid storyline is needed for a successful feature length animated film or are the animated films just a platform for spectacular imagery. This essay will discuss topics such as the different narrative theories and how the majority of contemporary films have a similar narrative structure, how films have become more sophisticated in terms of raw video footage being just one element necessary to complete a single shot in a film. It will also discuss modern film techniques and how it can help the story being told. The essay will first focus on the various theories of narrative and a brief history of the spectacle of cinema before moving on to the analysis of my chosen case studies. People have been communicating since the day they have been born. From gossiping, bed time stories to little white lies people have been subconsciously or consciously telling stories in some form of a narrative structure. By this I do not mean that all human discourse takes the form of a true story itself but the elements of the basic narrative structure such as having, a beginning, middle and an end are present. Vast majority of mainstream films have the classic three stage act structure of the 19th century stage melodrama, set-up, conflict and resolution as the basic linear structure.â€Å"†¦time is experienced as linear (past-present-future).† From starting to read this essay to the end time has passed. Narratives that have manifested itself into other forms of medium more or less have a tendency to follow this fact. Dreams, flashbacks, characters or a narrator reciting earlier events or future events which are due to happen are eccentric elements of breaking up the linear time format. Hence the arrangement of the plot being the story or as described by the Russian formalist, Viktor Shklovsky, fibula (story) and syuzhet (plot). A prominent example of this is in such films as The Usual Suspects (Bryan Singer, 1995) or Memento (Christopher Nolan, 2000) where the plot and story are quite different, the story not being presented chronologically. Narration, the plot’s way of distributing story information in order to achieve specific effects. Narration is the moment by moment process that guides us in building the story out of the plot. Re-arranging the plot of narratives can be a powerful technique as it can easily create suspense, curiosity, fear, satisfaction, motivation to know more of the situation. Film as a narrative medium, more or less does have closure of story or events, as in the end order is established, stability has been restored. In other words restoring the balance, a theory concluded by Tzvetan Todorov, a Bulgarian structuralist. Todorov reported that the majority of narratives have the same structure, i.e: in a linear storyline, initially all the forces are in balance (equilibrium) and by some event or another the forces are disturbed and majority of the storyline involving around further complications of the initial situation at hand and eventually the balance being restored in the end, even though this balance is not the same as it was at the start of the narrative. When speaking of events happening or that have already happened to disturb the equilibrium, I am referring to character driven and event driven plots or moments. Major film blockbusters tend to follow this pattern with a high tendency of closure with the notion of appealing to the mass audience. This concept of commercial aesthetics may or may not be frowned upon by directors, producers or the script writers but I can comfortably agree with the fact that major film studios highly consider what will or wont appeal to the audience, how much funding they are willing to provide, generating revenues, running time, sequels and prequels and this greatly effects the quality of the storytelling and spectacle of the films, thus the director’s or producer’s true vision of the film not being fulfilled. There are many theorists in different fields of study who have studied to devise logical ways of thinking about narratives. The main theorists I have looked at are Carl G. Jung, a Swiss physiatrist who studied Archetypes and their influences in western storytelling, Claude Là ©vi-Strauss, a French anthropologist studied that narratives were made up of binary oppositions and that key terms in narratives had differences. Joseph Campbell, an American professor studied mythology and religion. His works have been published in a book, ‘Hero With A Thousand Faces.’ He described the term monomyth, an idea which he outlined some archetypal patterns that he realised. He focuses on the role of the hero and the various events that the hero can go through. Gustav Freytag, a German critic suggested a method for representing and analysing plots through a simple diagram of a triangle. The triangle highlighted the setup, conflict and resolution of conventional narrative structures. Starting from the left side (setup), going up the triangle would suggest the apex of the crisis (conflict) and falling back down to the end of the story or the equilibrium being restored (resolution). Meanwhile going across the bottom of the triangle would be the time passing by in relation to the events in the story. This triangle is an adaptation of Aristotle’s work on narrative structures. Aristotle’s work has been collected together into a book called The Poetics which is a series of lectures and workings, which essentially sums up that â€Å"there are causes and effects that occur over time.† Tzvetan Todorov and Viktor Shklovsky I have mentioned before as theorists in narrative and finally Vladimir Propp. They all came to the conclusion of their own theories of narrative however, it will be most useful to concentrate on two particular theorists whose works compliments each others quite well. †¦all conventional films are characterized by the same narrative structure by the work of Tzvetan Todorov and Vladimir Propp. The majority of mainstream films have a similar narrative structure and the works of Todorov and Propp are evidently clear within these narratives. Vladimir Propp, a Russian critic and folklorist analysed many folk tales to see if they shared any common attributes and structures. He concluded that there are eight main characters such as ‘the dispatcher’ or ‘the donor’ and that there are 31 narrative functions such as ‘villain is punished’ or ‘the hero is pursued.’ His analysis also mentioned that not all these are evident in all narratives. Todorov and Propps theories have been influential in modern narratives and work fluently with my chosen case studies and I will apply their theories in more detail later. One last person worth mentioning is Christopher Booker, an English journalist who published the book, ‘The Seven Basic Plots.’ This book outlines that all narratives fall into one of the seven various forms of storytelling. These plots are overcoming the monster, rags to riches, the quest, voyage and return, comedy, tragedy and rebirth. These plots all had alternative darker versions, except for tragedy which already is the dark version. Furthermore two new plots were added outside this list, rebellion against the one and mystery. Both my case studies fall under the plot, overcoming the monster which I will briefly look at later when analysing my case studies. â€Å"The pleasure of looking – scopophilia has been central to cinema since the beginning† Film is a visual storytelling medium. More people are keen on using their eyes to visualise the story as the audience willingly lose suspension of disbelief, sitting in a film theatre staring at a flat wall for two hours as the story unfolds before their eyes. Before I discuss some of the contemporary film techniques of storytelling I will briefly focus on the ‘cinema of attractions’ an expression used to describe the early cinema by film historian Tom Gunning. As technology began to evolve over the 20th century, the moving image was born. People were overwhelmed by this form of medium and what technology could do thereafter. It was all about the ‘wow’ factor, the look of the film. Since most films during this time were unedited sequences of footage, the narrative was not an important issue. Film makers were more fascinated with the possibilities of this particular medium and capturing the ‘real’ and what they could do with it. There were people like the Lumiere Brothers (Auguste Marie (1862-1954) and Louis Jean (1864-1948)) who successfully captured the ‘real-life’ imitation of film. One famous example is the short film called LArrivà ©e dun train en gare de la Ciotat (1895). When this film was shown people were so shocked and in fear that the train was going to run them down they fled the theatre. This was a turning point in film history as the Lumiere Brothers inspired so many other film makers. One particular other magician turned film maker was Georges Melies (1861-1938). He was another French film pioneer who made over a thousand films, the most memorable ones being Le Voyage dans la Lune (A Trip to the Moon, 1902). His views on film making was not to mimic ‘real-life’ but to explore other possibilities, using the camera to subvert what the camera sees into abstractness or creating illusions. He discovered the dissolve effect by chance when his equipment jammed. He explored the ‘magical’ possibilities of the camera and other techniques such as split screen techniques and stop motion photography. He was a pioneer in cinematic special effects and also a film maker who inspired the likes of Jan Svankmajer, Terry Gilliam, etc. Films made during this period were only a couple of minutes long and over the years up until the present films have got longer, in the nineties being an hour and a half but now the average running time is at least two hours, which I definitely support the idea of, since we at least as the audience will be getting our moneys worth. This is not to say that quantity is more essential than quality but I would like to argue the fact that film producers and directors are adding extra running time to enhance the narrative, by adding sub plots or developing characters to improve the story or explain situations or events clearly and not to extend the running time so the spectacle can be the main attraction, even though Hollywood has a tendency to refer to its films as motion pictures rather than film. This can be a signal that Hollywood is faithful to the spectacle of the moving image. A new cinema of attractions has risen, particularly within action genres, where plot and story are of less importance than the spectacle. This can be true since the action genre relies on the spectacle to deliver the film. The action genre is an area where the narrative is simply a platform for spectacle where the audience can sit back, relax and enjoy the film visually, instead of participating in the story and working out clues and problem solving the story. It is more or less the dominant element, meaning in days to come we will remember the ‘spectacle’ but might fail to remember what actually happened. Furthermore I think films in theory have to have at least a sequence where the narrative is disrupted and spectacle takes over, such as a car chase or a well choreographed fight scene. In theory the ‘cinema of attractions’ still exist to this day with the huge cinema screens with surround sounds and films still offering the spectacle as the attraction. In Russia during the Soviet Union (1920’s) spectacle was still the attraction but besides that, editing of films was also used to draw the audiences attention. Editing created powerful effects on the spectators. One particular example I would like to mention is the famous Odessa steps sequence from Sergei Eisenstein’s, Battleship Potemkin (USSR, 1925). This well known sequence is where the army restores order among the sailors and civilians of Odessa. He used a ‘montage’ type of editing to create a pulsating attraction after attraction to intensify the feeling and effect. The point I am trying to make here is that spectacle can be a potent technique in storytelling without the strong element of narrative. Editing has evolved over the years and has become an art form in itself. It can be used to clarify events, establish a location and to build up tension and emotions. Editing itself is a unique process of shots being composed together to maximise the dramatic effect of the story. It combines the mise en scene of the shot along with all the rest to make sense of the film. It is how information can be held back to the director’s content, what to reveal and what not to the audience. Filmmakers are editing in specific ways or cutting more shots out of the final film recently since the audience’s sophistication grows. This can also be referred to as restricted and unrestricted narrative. Restricted narrative is when we have limited information as to what is going on, we only know what the characters know, being it false information or not. We are told information from a first person perspective, as if we are in the films ourselves within that space. Unrestricted narrative is where we are told everything, we know things that the protagonists don’t as in a third person perspective. Editing shots in a way that one shot transitions into another giving the sense of a smooth, flowing edit is called continuity editing. This is a technique where a seamless edit takes place, this can be helpful as it can interpolate the audience into the physical space where the action is taking place. But some narratives shots require the edits to be visible to achieve a particular effect such as the Odessa steps sequence as mentioned before. In continuity editing there is rule known as the 180degrees rule. This rule takes place seamlessly also within the film. When two characters are talking, the action is shot on one specific side of the characters, being the one side or the other and the camera being placed anywhere on that side. This is just to clarify which direction the characters are facing and to establish the space in which they are in. This rule can be used for close-ups for intimate conversations and happenings or far out as we look on as spectators. Another important aspect of storytelling is mise en scene. This is a term given to describe everything involved within that particular shot. It is everything that makes up the frame, i.e: actors, dialogue, the music, diegetic material, cinematography, cg elements or as Richard Maltby describes, â€Å" arrangement of screen space as a meaningful organisation of elements† Lev Manovich a professor in visual arts, wrote an article among many, but one that I found particularly interesting was on Digital Cinema and he quotes, â€Å"Cinema is the art of the index; it is an attempt to make art out of a footprint.† He states the fact that contemporary cinema has become a platform where film-makers can edit and simulate real world actions through different forms and techniques such as CGI. Cinema has evolved from movies being mostly live footage to contemporary digital cinema where the live footage in film has become little or used as a basis for experimentation, 3d manipulation, etc. The fact that he used the expression ‘an attempt to make art out of a footprint’ in reference to raw video is an indication as how it is used as a ground element for the CG to build upon and to manipulate it until all the elements are finalised to complete the shot. How did cinema arrive at using animation in its projects? I am going to try to explain this as short and briefly as possible. Cinema was born when the moving image was created, a sequence of images, footage or hand drawn, which theoretically is animation, since a series of images give the illusion of movement, hence animation. Film makers took this new format and made films in the tendency of the ‘Lumiere style’ or the ‘Melies style’ as mentioned before, adding animation as a supplement. As technology developed, the future made digital cinema possible incorporating animation and special effects as the main essence of films while live recording was used as the basis or even reference, â€Å"hence, the production becomes just the 1st stage of post-production.† Manual construction and animation of images gave birth to cinema and slipped into the marginsonly to re-appear as the foundation of digital cinema. The history of the moving image thus makes a full circle. Born from animation, cinema pushed animation to its boundary, only to become one particular case of animation in the end. These contemporary film techniques and processes which I have just discussed are clearly evident in the two films of my choice. The first film I want to examine is Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. The film is the first photorealistic computer generated film ever to be made as all the cast are life like computer generated characters. The film is set in the future and it focuses on Dr. Aki Ross and her finding of the eighth spirit, in doing so will erase the alien phantom spirits from earth who have more or less taken over the world and left a barren like wasteland. The film follows a linear narrative structure and even though the film shares the same title as the computer games it bears no reference or relation to any of the stories in the computer games. Todorov suggests that conventional narratives are structured in five stages and this film’s narrative structure seamlessly integrates within those five stages. The first stage is clearly the equilibrium, however the film starts off with an already unbalanced state, which is the world has been laid waste to an alien race. The second and third stages, is the equilibrium being disturbed by some event and the recognition of this disturbance, which also has already happened before the story has begun, in being that the aliens have crashed on planet earth, and the human population reacting to this by evacuating to gigantic like plane hangers cities around the world which are protected by some sort of special field against the threat. The majority of the film is in reference to stage four which is trying to repair the unbalance, meaning Dr. Aki Ross with the help of a special task force unit trying to find the remaining spirits. The story finishes off in the fifth and final stage where the balance is restored in the end and the alien race eradicated from earth. Final fantasy also bears a resemblance to Christopher Bookers work and his theories of the seven plots, specifically ‘overcoming the monster’. The phantoms are the great and mysterious evil which the world has fallen to. The source of threat is the phantoms. The hero is Dr Aki Ross who is armed with the seven spirits and with the help of the scientist Dr Sid, they set out to travel to the source of the evil and with some amount of struggling, finding the last spirit and finally by discovering the eighth spirit the monstrous entity is destroyed. The threat has been lifted and the world has been saved with the loss of her companions. Looking at the film, the sense of photorealistic spectacle can help intensify and value the story better particularly the scenes of the phantoms. To clarify this notion in the scene where Dr Aki Ross is having her dreams of the phantoms charging towards her, I would find it quite difficult and would feel emotionless if the CGI was ‘unrealistic’ to say the least, you wouldn’t feel threatened because they didn’t look real or menacing enough. As a serious science fiction film the visual look can help communicate the narrative across at some points in the story by making the scenes more authentic and grittier. To be honest that is the only positive aspect I can mention about the look of the film. But on the other hand a point worth mentioning is the fact that the digital actors were quite emotionless. This lead to the notion that they were artificial. In traditional animation, the facial features and body movements are extremely vivid. The motions are slightly exaggerated to give the illusion of life and personality so the movement can blend from one frame to another and that is why films that are made by pixar are so rich in character because their animators have strong backgrounds in traditional animation. Nonetheless Final Fantasy strived for life like replicas of real human people. The films photorealistic look with the serious live action feel can also be considered as its weakness. While they did look amazingly real their emotions and actions were lifeless which lead to the fact that they were artificial characters. The characters had no chemistry with each other on screen, an example is the love/romantic scene with Dr Aki Ross and Captain Gray Edwards, I did not feel like they genuinely liked each other, it was not shown successfully with their reactions or on their faces. This brings me to my next point. My initial reaction to the life like characters was mostly surprised and mesmerised. But striving for the human believability of the characters solely on the look was not enough. Maybe if the characters were created for a still image in a magazine for example it would have been suffice. But for a motion picture, the digital characters felt strange and eerie. This might be down to the fact that, the photorealism in an animated feature film was a first but I would like to believe it was down to a theory hypothesised by a Japanese roboticist, by the name of Dr. Masahiro Mori. His theory was that the more human like a robot becomes or looks like, people are fascinated by it, but when the robot borderlines human likeness the natural response by people is negative. People focus on that negativity. The human like robot is considered odd and bizarre and leads to the feeling of strangeness within the viewer. This theory was named ‘The Uncanny Valley.â₠¬â„¢ Imagine a perfectly human-looking face that suddenly grimaces or smiles in a non-human way†¦ Its profoundly disturbing when something blurs the line between human and non-human. I myself, think the story was not strong enough for the film, it does not hold up to the magnificent CGI. I personally thought it failed to articulate the plot well. It is why I think the film was a let down. Some questions were left unanswered. Why were the alien phantoms a threat to the human race? Why were the alien phantoms fighting each other on their home planet in Dr Aki Ross’s dreams? Why did their home planet explode? Some of these questions, answered would have given us as the audience a better understanding of the plot. The narrative was simply a platform for spectacular imagery. When I watched the film for the first time I suspended disbelief on the visual realism, I was attracted to how believable the characters and environments were. I was conscious to the excellent CGI being shown the whole time. In the future looking back at this film, people will remember this film and automatically think of how brilliantly photorealistic the animation was, how life like the characters were and how new and ever evolving technology made this possible. My next case study is another feature length animation made by the incredibly talented people at pixar studios. Pixar have been making animated feature length films and short films for over 10 years now and each one has been more successful than the previous one. The Incredibles is a computer generated film that is not photo realistic. It does have that classic pixar look, heavily stylized with human attributes. It is arguably, one of my favourite animated films mainly because it is not just the typical comedy from pixar. It does have its comedic moments but what sets this apart from any other animated film especially from the studio of pixar is that it is darker and has some form of violence. It feels like a live action film. It has moved away from the cute, lovely characters from previous pixar films. I liked this notion because it mainly appeals to a much wider audience. The narrative structure does follow Todorov’s linear theory of equilibrium but I would like to apply Propp’s theory of character types with Gustav Freytag’s Triangle. The story film begins with an equilibrium, superheroes exist, living amongst normal people saving the world and keeping peace and order in society. Problems begin to evolve as the main ‘Hero’ Mr Incredible is being sued for injuring the same civilian he just saved moments before. One thing leads to another and all superheroes have been forced to live normal lives under a superhero witness protection program. Thus the balances have been disturbed and according to Freytag’s Triangle the density of the problems are growing as time goes on and as the story makes its way up the triangle. The hero by temptation has been called into action by the ‘villain’ into using his powers. The hero without knowing what he is doing has willingly helped the villain in his master plans and when Mr Incredible realises what he has done he is inevitably captured. His family are now on their way to release him. This is the peak of the crisis or triangle as all the problems are laid bare and the tension has built up, we know what Syndromes (villain) intensions are. The climax or the solving of the problems are to follow next as we climb down the triangle, as the family of superheroes solve the problems one by one. The family now together try to find a way to stop Syndromes plans and save the world, restoring the balance in the end and the story coming to an appropriate closure of the current events. I say appropriate closure because the films ending is more or less an open possibility for a sequel or maybe more. I loved the narrative as it has a bond’esque feel about it, saving the world from a mad man. I was easily and simply able to establish who the heroes and villains were and the fact that the story had a suitable closure as all the loose ends of the story were tied up. Examining the narrative overall I can safely say that the relatively straightforward narrative fits Freytag’s triangle perfectly in view of the fact that all the problems that grew were resolved in the end. I would like to mention the beginning of the film was a parody to the 1950/1960’s U.S superhero comics and films. The likeness is significant in the terms that the film begins in the past and works its way to the present day and when the superhero’s lived alongside average citizens and the fact that the look of the film mimicked the same style of news reporting when the superheroes over the world were being sued. In addition the stylised characters with the large upper torso, broad shoulders, square jaw and smaller than average legs evidently represented by Mr Incredible were mimics of the 1950/1960’s U.S superheroes. This parody worked well as it gave the film authenticity and it felt that time had moved on within the film to the present day. Even though the characters were not photorealistic, the animation sold the concept that they were real. The exaggerated motions like I mentioned before convinced me that these artificial characters had feelings and they genuinely exist. This was quite an achievement for pixar, as cg characters before The Incredibles, whether in television adverts, cartoons or short animated films have not been quite rigid but lacked that sense of energy and dynamic in them. This can raise the question, is animation only successful with non-human or non-realistic characters? This question in itself is worth another essay, to be studied accurately, but in short I would like to think not, since there have been films that have major success such as The Incredibles clearly, Toy Story 12 also made by people at pixar studios, Shrek 12 by Dreamworks Animations and feature length films which include ‘CG doubles’ of their live counterparts. Again the theory of ‘The Uncanny Valley’ comes into play as successful films of non-realistic characters maybe down to the fact that people find it strange when CG characters end up looking ‘too real’ on screen. The appearance of the film was simplistic, almost approaching a ‘minimalist’ look and stylised but not over done as to steal the limelight of the narrative. The narrative is the dominant element within this film as I believe that the spectacle supported but did not dominate the narrative. On watching this film I was drawn into the story, what was going to happen next, it was engaging and I wanted to know more. I felt that an actual story was told to me, that I was watching the events unfold from a third person view within the film, that I was successfully entertained. On first time round watching the film I was not thinking how that was made. The film will be remembered for its entertaining, excellent storytelling factor, a film the whole family can watch. All feature animated films that have been produced by the pixar studios have had massive success. I think of pixar as any other major film studio emphasising on telling an entertaining narrative but telling it through a specific medium of film. Films such as the Toy Story series, Finding Nemo, Shrek series, Ice Age series and Madagascar all have had major success due to the strong narrative element running through the film. All films are non photo-realistic as the spectacle supports and is just the platform for story. It is kind of ironic that a photorealistic character felt unconvincing in Final Fantasy but felt realistic in The Incredibles even though the creators of Final Fantasy were aiming for realism. It proves my point of the fact that intending to achieve realism will only go so far without the narrative, vigour or the personality behind it. Narrative is compulsory in giving spectacle depth and more over ‘life’ so it will become believable and to work and blend as one as a feature length animated film. So is story and plot less significant in feature length animation then spectacle? I think not. I strongly disagree with the fact that spectacle is more vital than narrative primarily because of the apparent reason that the whole idea of feature films is to tell a story. The public go to cinemas to be entertained for two hours. They set out to be enthralled by a story, that is what a ‘film’ is, a narrative in by which the spectacle helps to communicate the information across. As CG effects get more complicated the audiences want more than spectacle, they yearn to be motivated by other means rather than to watch a sequence of frames. To lose the sense of reality and be mesmerised into a fictional world of wonderful computer generated characters and environments. I believe that full feature animation is just another medium of spectacle that stories can be told through, that narrative is essential for a successful CGI animation, as only recently due to new software and powerful hardware more and more CGI feature films are being made and it is technically quite a new process as filming the real has been done for a while. There is of course the excuse of the cinema to show off how the latest technology can create spectacular imagery and special effects, and show off new film and CG techniques. I also agree that spectacle can sometimes enhance the narrative being told, by exotic scenery and sets that would be impossible to manually build on location, or unrealistic physical attributes such as walking on water or punching holes in walls. The visual storytelling medium has changed, evolved for better or worse due to commercial

meat packing industry Essays -- essays research papers fc

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Rights and responsibilities in the meatpacking industry   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the early twentieth century, at the height of the progressive movement, â€Å"Muckrakers† had uncovered many scandals and wrong doings in America, but none as big the scandals of Americas meatpacking industry. Rights and responsibilities were blatantly ignored by the industry in an attempt to turn out as much profit as possible. The meat packers did not care if poor working conditions led to sickness and death. They also did not care if the spoiled meat they sold was killing people. The following paper will discuss the many ways that rights and responsibilities were not being fulfilled by the meat packing industry.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  At the turn of the twentieth century â€Å"Muckraking† had become a very popular practice. This was where â€Å"muckrakers† would bring major problems to the publics attention. One of the most powerful pieces done by a muckraker was the book â€Å"The Jungle†, by Upton Sinclair. The book was written to show the horrible working and living conditions in the packing towns of Chicago, but what caused a major controversy was the filth that was going into Americas meat. As Sinclair later said in an interview about the book â€Å"I aimed at the publics heart and by accident hit them in the stomach.†# The meat packing industry took no responsibility for producing safe and sanitary meat.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One reason for this problem was that there was no real inspection of the meat. A quote from â€Å"The Jungle† tells of a government inspector checking the hogs for Tuberculosis, â€Å"This government inspector did not have a manner of a man who was worked to death; he was apparently not haunted by a fear that the hog might get by before he had finished his testing. If you were a sociable person, he was quite willing to enter into conversation with you and to explain the deadly nature of the ptomaines which are found in tubercular pork; and while he was talking with you you could hardly be so ungrateful to notice that a dozen carcasses were passing him untouched.†# This obviously led to tubercular meat being processed in the packing house. Another problem was the incredible lack of sanitation and the use of spoiled meat, another quote from â€Å"The Jungle† tells of how dirty it was in these plants â€Å"There would be meat stored in gre... ... government inspection of meat products. The Pure Food and Drug act also passed after the Meat inspection Act of 1906. The packers denied the charges and opposed the bills to no avail. These bills protected the publics right to safe sanitary meat.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In conclusion it is obvious to see that rights and responsibilities were not carried out by the meatpacking industry. They were greed driven business men who â€Å"poisoned for profit† as president Roosevelt said. The meatpackers had a right to make their product but did not take the responsibility to do it in a manner that was safe to the consumer. Thanks to people like Upton Sinclair and Theodore Roosevelt, the meat industry today takes the responsibility to make a safe quality product of the public. Bibliography 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Corey, Lewis, Meat and Men: A study of Monopoly, Unionism and Food Policy (New York: The Viking Press, 1985). 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Sinclair, Upton, The Jungle, (New York: Bantam Books,1906). 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Divine, Breen, Fredrickson, Williams, eds., America Past and Present Volume II: since 1865 sixth edition (New York: Longman 2002).

And Then there were none. :: essays research papers

Two policeman, Sir Thomas Legge and Inspector Maine, discuss the perplexing Indian Island case. They have reconstructed much of what happened on Indian Island from diaries kept by various guests. It is clear to them that the murderer was not Blore, Lombard, or Vera. When they arrived, the police found the chair Vera kicked away to hang herself mysteriously set upright against the wall. We learn that Isaac Morris, who hired Lombard and Blore and bought the island in the name of U. N. Owen, died of an apparent sleeping-pill overdose the night the guests arrived on the island. The police suspect that Morris was murdered. The police know that the people of Sticklehaven were instructed to ignore any distress signals from the island; they were told that everything taking place on the island was part of a game being played by the wealthy owners of the island and their guests. The rest of the epilogue takes the form of a manuscript in a bottle, found by a fisherman and given to the police. It is written by Judge Wargrave, who writes that the manuscript offers the solution to an unsolved crime. He says he was a sadistic child with both a lust for killing and a strong sense of justice. Reading mysteries always satisfied him. He went into law, an appropriate career for him because it allowed him to indulge his zeal for death within the confines of the law. Watching guilty persons squirm become a new pleasure for him. After many years as a judge, he developed the desire to play executioner. He wanted to kill in an extraordinary, theatrical way, while adhering to his own sense of justice. One day, a doctor mentioned to Wargrave the number of murders that must go unpunished, citing a recently deceased woman he felt sure was killed by the married couple who worked as her servants. Because the couple withheld a needed drug in order to kill her, the murder could ne ver be proven. This story inspired Wargrave to plan multiple murders of people who had killed but could not be prosecuted under the law. He thought of the â€Å"Ten Little Indian† rhyme that he loved as a child for its series of inevitable deaths. Wargrave took his time gathering a list of victims, bringing up the topic of unpunished murders in casual conversations and hoping someone would mention a case of which they knew.

Equal But Different Essay -- essays research papers

For centuries blacks have suffered discrimination from the white society. They were thought to be uncivilized because of their dark skin color. Today, discrimination against skin color no longer exists legally in the United States. Public schools and workplaces are mixed with a variety colors and races from different countries. Though, it may seem that skin color doesn’t matter in society, the majority of society only make close friends or marry someone from their own race. Most of these feelings towards another of a different skin color are deeply rooted in our minds from previous generations. Their mentality prevents them from behaving the same. Difference in behavior from a multicolored society is evident in schools, in society, and in television. Most teenagers only hang around people from their own race. There is evidence of this in the school cafeteria. The cafeteria is split up in two parts. On one side, black teenagers eat with their same-colored friends. On the other side, whites and latinos sit separately in their own tables. Someone might say, â€Å"Well, that group sits apart from the other because they don’t speak the same language as the other group†. You mean to tell me that no black or latino can speak English. If skin color doesn’t matter then why doesn’t everyone sit together at lunch? When everyone is growing up they imagine themselves getting married to someone perfect with their skin-color. With a few exceptions, the majority of the population marries someo...

Oedipus: a Tragic Hero

Oedipus: A Tragic Hero Aristotle’s tragic hero is one of the most recognizable types of heroes among literature. A tragic hero combines five major points all of which have to do with the hero’s stature in society, his faults, how these faults effect him, the punishment his faults gets him, and how he reacts to this punishment. Aristotle explained that the story of Oedipus the King, written by Sophocles, is a perfect example of a tragic hero. In the play, Oedipus is given a prophecy in which he is told that he will kill his father then marry his mother. As in many Greek plays, Oedipus tries to run from his prophecy and ends up fulfilling exactly what it is foretold. Through the play we see that Oedipus posses many of the characteristics of a tragic hero such as: he is of noble stature, his downfall was his own fault, and that his punishment was not wholly deserved. The first trait that Oedipus possesses that makes him a tragic hero is that he is a man of noble stature. Within the first lines of the play, Oedipus immediately supports this in saying, â€Å"Here I am myself-/you know me, the world knows my fame:/I am Oedipus† (7-8). This quote shows that Oedipus is so confident in people knowing who he is that he is willing to put this out there, though he is not being overly confident. This quote is later given reason to when we hear from other characters such as the Priest when he explains things that Oedipus has done such as, â€Å"You freed us from the Sphinx, you came to Thebes/and cut us loose from the bloody tribute we had paid/that harsh, brutal singer† (44-46). The Priest depicts when Oedipus defeated the Sphinx, which is the task that gains him the position of king of Thebes. The next characteristic that Oedipus possesses that makes him a tragic hero is that his downfall is of his own doing. The act that ultimately contributes to Oedipus’ downfall is that of when he kills his father and he explains to Jocasta that he killed everyone, â€Å"I killed them all-every mother’s son! † (898). Since he is talking about his father’s caravan it shows that he, indeed killed his father even though he was unaware that it was his father at the time. That is only the beginning of his downfall though as he earlier told the Chorus that anyone harboring the murderer would be cursed, even if it was himself, â€Å"†¦if by any chance/he proves to be an intimate of our house†¦may the curse I just called down strike me! † (284-287). This shows just how serious that Oedipus was about punishing this person and even though he doesn’t understand that it is himself, and takes awhile for him to realize, that he was responsible for what happened to him. The final discussed characteristic that Oedipus possesses is that his punishment was not wholly deserved. There are three main punishments that Oedipus has to go through because of his crime. Those punishments are his exile from Thebes, the suicide of Jocasta, and the loss of his sight. However, the punishment that pushes everything over the edge is when Oedipus strikes out his own eyes. When he appears to the Chorus he comes out and speaks of how horrid he feels for everything in saying, â€Å"The blackest things/a man can do, I have done them all! † (1541-1542). During this very scene the Chorus speaks, not to Oedipus directly, but to each other and the literally shrink away from him. It is obvious that they don’t believe he deserves this through their words, â€Å"O the terror–/the suffering, for all the world to see/the worst terror that ever met my eyes,/what madness swept over you? † (1432-1435). The Chorus continues to speak of how Oedipus cursed himself by the gods and that this is his punishment, but cannot understand what god would force such a punishment on any man. Works Cited Mifflin, Houghton. Language of Literature World Literature. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2005. Print.

Pathophysiology of COPD Essay

This assignment will explicate the pathophysiology of the disease procedure chronic clogging pneumonic disease ( COPD ) . It will analyze how this disease affects an single looking at the biological. psychological and societal facets. It will carry through this by mentioning to a patient who was admitted to a medical ward with an aggravation of COPD. Furthermore with aid of Gibbs theoretical account of contemplation ( as cited in Bulman & A ; Schutz. 2004 ) it will show how an experience altered an attitude. In conformity with the Nursing and Midwifery Council. ( NMC ) Code of Professional Conduct ( NMC. 2005 ) sing safeguarding patient information no names or topographic points will be divulged. Therefore throughout the assignment the patient will be referred to as John. John is a 57 twelvemonth old gentleman who has been married to Mavis for two old ages. John was admitted to the ward with terrible shortness of breath cough and inordinate phlegm production. By looking through Johnà ¢â‚¬â„¢s notes it was discovered this was an aggravation of COPD. To understand John’s status it is utile to look at how the normal respiratory system works. The map of the respiratory System is to provide the organic structure with O and take C dioxide ( Marieb. 2004 ) . Harmonizing to Waugh and Grant ( 2004 ) it besides helps keep organic structure temperature and extinguish extra H2O from the organic structure. The Respiratory system consists of the oral cavity. rhinal pit. throat. voice box. windpipe. bronchial tube and the lungs ( Seeley. Stephens & A ; Tate. 2000 ) . Air enters through either the oral cavity or olfactory organ which humidifies and cleans the air. ( Cohen & A ; Wood. 2000 ) unifying into a common chamber called the oropharynx ( Watson. 2000 ) . Air so leaves to the throat. a short. funnel-shaped tubing that transports air to the voice box ( Waugh & A ; Grant. 2004 ) . The air enters the voice box which is lined with mucose membrane and returns to the windpipe. which is formed of semi-circular gristle rings. The interior membrane of the windpipe contains hair cells and mucose cells which trap atoms and brush them toward the bronchial tube. The bronchial tube are besides lined with mucose membrane and ringed with gristle ( Marieb. 2004 ) . Each bronchial tube is lined with mucose membrane. ( Martini. 2000 ) and extends into a lung where it subdivides organizing smaller bronchioles ( Watson. 2000 ) . Bronchioles terminate with the air sac which are the functional units for gas exchange and are thin. moist and surrounded by capillaries ( Clancy & A ; McVicar 2001 ) . Inhaled air travels through these air passages to the air sac. Blood is pumped out of the bosom through the pneumonic arterias to the capillaries environing the air sac. ( Shaw. 2005 ) The O of the inhaled air diffuses out of the air sac into the blood. while C dioxide in the blood moves into the air sac to be exhaled ( Tortora & A ; Grabowskie. 2003 ) . The oxygen-rich blood is returned to the bosom through the pneumonic venas. The lungs can spread out and contract without clash during take a breathing due to the pleura. a thin membranous construction ( Tamir. 2002 ) . The splanchnic pleura surround the lungs. while the parietal pleura line the wall of the pectoral pit. These pleura are separated by a little fluid-filled infinite called the pleural pit. Ventilation requires work and before the lungs can go hyperbolic. a force per unit area alteration must take topographic point. The elastic belongingss of the lung let airing to take topographic point more expeditiously and the fluid in the pleural pit serves as a lubricator that allows the lungs to skid against the chest wall ( Marieb. 2004 ) . John notified the staff that he was diagnosed with COPD twelve months ago by his general practician ( G. P. ) . He added that he repeatedly went to his G. P. as he had been experiencing breathless. which was going worse and was present every twenty-four hours. more so when he exercised. This shortness of breath he revealed was accompanied by a cough alongside phlegm production. John’s G. P inquired if he smoked and how many. John informed him he has smoked around 30 coffin nails a twenty-four hours for 42 old ages. The physician so gave John a lung map trial utilizing a spirometer. John was notified by his General practitioner that he had COPD which. John was informed. was both chronic bronchitis and emphysema ( National Lung Health Education Program. 2005 ) . The World Health Organization ( WHO ) ( 2006A ) defines COPD as a disease province characterized by airflow restriction that is non entirely reversible. The airflow restriction is normally both progressive and associated with unnatural inflammatory response of the lungs to noxious atoms or gases. John’s chronic bronchitis is defined. clinically. as the presence of a chronic productive cough for 3 months in each of 2 consecutive old ages. provided other causes of chronic cough have been ruled out. ( Mannino. 2003 ) . The British lung Foundation ( BLF ) ( 2005 ) announces that chronic bronchitis is the redness and eventual scarring of the liner of the bronchial tubing which is the account for John’s dyspnoea. The BLF ( 2005 ) believe that when the bronchial tube become inflamed less air is able to flux to and from the lungs and one time the bronchial tubings have been irritated over a long period of clip. inordinate mucous secretion is produced. This increased sputum cons equences from an addition in the size and figure of goblet cells ( Jeffery. 2001 ) ensuing in John’s inordinate mucous secretion production. The liner of the bronchial tubings becomes thickened and an annoying cough develops. ( Waugh & A ; Grant 2004 ) which is an extra symptoms that toilet is sing. Emphysema affects the parenchyma of the lung through devastation of the alveolar walls. taking to lasting expansion of air infinites distal to the terminal bronchioles ( Sandford. Weir & A ; Pare. 1997 ) . The walls between next air sac interrupt down. the alveoli canals dilate and there is loss of interstitial elastic tissue ( Watson. 2000 ) This consequences in dilatation of the lungs and loss of normal elastic kick. therefore pin downing and stagnancy of alveolar air ( National Emphysema Foundation. 2006 ) . As alveoli merge there is loss of surface country for gaseous exchange ( Alexander. Fawcett & A ; Runciman. 2004 ) ensuing in less O. This loss of country for gaseous exchange is an extra account for John’s dyspnoea. John was referred to the physical therapist to assist relieve his shortness of breath and mucous secretion production. Turner Foster & A ; Johnson ( 2005 ) pronounce physical therapists are cardinal members of the intercession squad. can education and give John practical counsel on how he can take a breath comfortably and efficaciously. ( United Kingdom Parliament. 2005 ) . Van der Schans. Postma. Koeter & A ; Rubin ( 1999 ) suggest physical therapists facilitate John’s mucous secretion conveyance by utilizing take a breathing techniques. percussion and postural drainage. Furthermore they can educate John on organic structure placement as this is cardinal with people with COPD ( Gosselink. 2003 ) . Additionally John was referred to the Occupational Therapist ( OT ) who assessed his current degree of fittingness and so formulated a plan of activities which will better his overall strength and staying power. The OT can besides give advice to John to pull off his status with the least hurt and break of day-to-day life ( Turner Foster & A ; Johnson 2005 ) . Furthermore the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence ( NICE ) ( 2004 ) urge patient with COPD should be on a regular basis asked about their ability to set about activities of day-to-day life and how breathless they become when making these. John was informed that his COPD was perchance caused by smoking. Kanner ( 1996 ) believes that the major environmental factor of COPD is tobacco fume. The Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease ( GOLD ) ( 2005 ) concurs and provinces cigarette smoke is by far the most of import hazard factor for COPD. This harmonizing to the National Heart Blood and Lung Institute ( NHLBI ) ( 2006 ) is because smoking irritates the lungs. which causes the air passages to go inflamed and narrowed. Additionally Verra. Escudier. Lebargy. Bernaudin. De Cremoux & A ; Bignon ( 1995 ) adds that enzymes released because of the redness breaks down elastin. the protein of import for structural unity of the lungs. making take a breathing air in and out of the lungs more hard ( NHLBI. 2006 ) However D’hulst. Maes. Bracke. Demedts. Tournoy. Joos & A ; Brusselle ( 2005 ) states non all tobacco users develop clinically important COPD. which suggests that familial factors must modify each individual’s hazard ( WHO. 2006B ) . John continues to smoke although he has reduced his consumption ; nevertheless NICE ( 2004 ) guidelines suggest all COPD patents who continue to smoke should be encouraged to halt. and offered aid to make so. at every chance because. smoking surcease is the individual most effectual manner to cut down the hazard of developing COPD and halt its patterned advance ( WHO. 2006B ) . John was encouraged to halt. given counsel on how to halt. was informed about a smoke surcease group that he could go to and in add-on offered nicotine spots ; nevertheless he refused and told staff that he would discontinue in his ain clip. John explained to the nurse that for the past few months he has been experiencing low. can non concentrate and has a deficiency of involvement in anything. he says he does non understand why he is experiencing this manner. Gross ( 2001 ) believes these symptoms could be a mark of depression. Harmonizing to Kunik. Roundy. Veazey. Souchek. Richardson. Wray & A ; Stanley ( 2005 ) many CODP patients develop psychological symptoms in add-on to physical ailments. Harmonizing to Kunik & A ; Densmore ( 2002 ) this is because of the nature of the disease and the fright of being breathless. The BLF ( 2005 ) concur and believe take a breathing trouble can incite anxiousness and depression. Other causes stated by Ohri & A ; Steiner ( 2004 ) include body image. increased solitariness. deficiency of societal support. and low self-pride. Kunik et Al ( 2005 ) study that depression and anxiousness are two to three times more prevailing in COPD patients than in the general population and the account f or this is because of the sustained and relentless feelings of defeat. hopelessness and weakness. John’s depressed temper could take down his degree of energy needed to get by with his chronic unwellness. which. in bend. could do his symptoms less tolerable. ( Singer. Ruchinskas. Riley. Broshek & A ; Barth. 2001 ) Depression besides can take to increased badness of John’s medical symptoms since feelings of depression can do a individual to be less active. and. in bend. may worsen physical impairment. which can escalate the psychosocially disabling effects of COPD ( Van Ede. Yzermans & A ; Brouwer. 1999 ) . However a survey by Engstrom. Persson. Larsson. Ryden & A ; Sullivan ( 1996 ) found that quality of life is non significantly affected in patients with mild to chair COPD. perchance due to get bying and/or pneumonic modesty capacity. John was given the chance to speak to a head-shrinker since mental wellness specializer can name depression and supply appropriate intervention. One intervention that was suggested was pneumonic rehabilitation. Mahler ( 1998 ) states these plans incorporate psychosocial and behavioural constituents. Emery. Leatherman. Burker & A ; MacIntyre ( 1991 ) agree and suggests that it can besides heighten cognitive operation and psychological wellbeing. Surveies by Withers. Rudkin & A ; White ( 1999 ) repeat this and demo that degrees of anxiousness and depression were significantly enhanced by pneumonic rehabilitation. John was 56 when he was diagnosed with COPD. He stated he was forced to take early retirement from his employment where he assisted in the fix. installing and care of H2O and sewer lines. This. he believes was because of the clip lost at work caused by his dyspnoea. Mavis declared she besides had to vacate from her portion clip occupation as a cleansing agent to take attention of John since she is his lone carer and is exhausted. Their income is from authorities benefits and a little pension and they say they are happening it hard to pull off on the sum of money they receive. Strassels. Smith. Sullivan. & A ; Mahajan ( 1987 ) reported that the typical COPD patient was more than 65 old ages old and had limited work loss straight related to his or her disease. However a survey by Tinkelman & A ; Corsello ( 2003 ) indicated that COPD is non merely a disease of the aged. They province a big per centum of patients with COPD are unable to work. and those who do work lose yearss as a conseq uence of their disease. This state of affairs they believe is of great concern to the single worker who may lose his occupation as a effect of inordinate absenteeism. Chronic unwellness and disablement are strongly category related ( Taylor & A ; Field 1993 ) and those in the lower socio-economic groups are the most affected. Smoking. the greatest hazard factor for COPD and exposure to occupational factors from manual unskilled occupations. such as excavation and foundry working are highest amongst males in the lower socio-economic groups ( Parnell. 2000 ) . COPD patients and their households tend to be members of this group and are frequently aged as symptoms become intrusive in the fifth and 6th decennaries of life which is John’s state of affairs. Webb & A ; Tossell ( 1999 ) maintain that pensions frequently reflect an individual’s category and societal position and as a consequence more adult females. retired manual workers and cultural minorities are disproportionately represented in old age as being on the borders of poorness. A trust on province benefits may be a effect if forced to retire early and carers may non be entitled to benefits in their ain right. The fiscal load is increased by the costs of disablement such as place changes and aid in the place or conveyance ( Young. 1995 ) . To assist John and Mavis a societal worker was involved who assisted with place attention aid when John was discharged so Mavis could hold some clip for herself. Additionally the OT was involved and provided equipment to assist John keep his independency ( Trombly & A ; Radomski 2000 ) . Although I was witting. through survey. other wellness professionals and through nurse preparation. that smoke can be damaging to wellness and can do diseases such as malignant neoplastic disease ( Newcomb & A ; Carbone 1992 ) atherosclerotic diseases ( McBride. 1992 ) and COPD ( British Thoracic Society. 1997 ) I was unwilling to give wellness publicity and smoke surcease advice since I smoke myself. Several surveies show that I am non entirely in this thought. Surveies by Dore & A ; Hoey ( 1998 ) and Adriaanse. Van Reek. Zandbelt & A ; Evers ( 1991 ) show that high smoke rates among some populations of nurses may decrease their willingness and effectivity as possible suppliers of smoking surcease attention. An extra survey by Nardini. Bertoletti. Rastelli. Ravelli & A ; Donner ( 1998 ) demonstrated that smoking wonts influence the attitude of wellness staff toward patient reding about baccy smoke. I considered that it was non my topographic point and felt hypocritical if I attempte d to give advice on halting smoke. On meeting John my feelings did non alter despite the fact that I could see the effects that COPD had on John’s external respiration. However on disbursement clip with John and Mavis my attitude altered. I realized that if John stopped smoking so his status. although his lost lung map would non be regained. ( Booker. 2005 ) will be slowed down ( Osman & A ; Hyland. 2005 ) . I became cognizant of the fact that I was in a premier place to assistance John in keeping his independency. to educate and to assist better John’s quality of life through wellness promoting and advice on smoking surcease. Although John decided non to give up this did non discourage me on giving wellness publicity advice on smoke. On speaking to other patients I took the chance to speak about halting smoking although I did non make this sharply ( Seedhouse. 2004 ) . This experience with John changed my feelings sing wellness publicity and smoke. Although I still feel slightly hypocritical. I acknowledge the importance of my place and how it can ease patients and their lives. I believe I understand the troubles patients face when trying to discontinue. possibly more than a womb-to-tomb non tobacco user. I will go on to supply smoking surcease advice throughout my preparation and besides throughout my calling. In decision this assignment has explained the pathophysiology of COPD through presenting a patient. It examined how this person has been affected holistically. Finally it demonstrated how an experience encountered altered an sentiment with aid from a brooding theoretical account. Mentions Alexander. M. F. . Fawcett. J. M. . & A ; Runciman. P. J. ( Eds. ) . ( 2004 ) . Nursing pattern infirmary and place – The grownup ( 2nd ed. ) . Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone. Adriaanse. H. . Van Reek. J. . Zandbelt. L. . & A ; Evers. G. ( 1991 ) . Nurses’ smoking worldwide. A reappraisal of 73 studies on nurses’ baccy ingestion in 21 states in the period 1959-1988. International Journal of Nursing Studies. 28. 361-375. Booker. R. ( 2005 ) . Chronic clogging pneumonic disease and nice guidelines. Nursing criterion. 19 ( 22 ) . British Lung Foundation ( 2005 ) . COPD. Retrieved March 14. 2006. from hypertext transfer protocol: //www. lunguk. org/copd. aspBritish Thoracic Society ( 1997 ) . BTS guidelines for the direction of chronic clogging pneumonic disease. Thorax. 52 ( 5 ) . Bulman. C. . & A ; Scultz. S. ( 2004 ) . Brooding pattern in nursing ( 3rd ed. ) . Oxford: Blackwell. Clancy. J. . & A ; McVicar. A. ( 2001 ) . Physiology and anatomy: a homeostatic attack ( 2nd ed. ) . London: Arnold. Cohen. B. J. . & A ; Wood. D. L. ( 2000 ) . Memmler’s the human organic structure in wellness and disease ( 9th ed. ) . Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & A ; Wilkins. D’hulst. A. . Maes. T. . Bracke. K. . Demedts. L Tournoy. K. . Joos G. . & A ; Brusselle G. ( 2005 ) . Cigarette smoke-induced pneumonic emphysema in scid-mice is the acquired immune system required? . Respiratory Research. 6 ( 147 ) . Dore. K. . & A ; Hoey. J. ( 1998 ) . Smoking patterns. cognition and attitudes sing smoke of university infirmary nurses. Canadian Journal of Public Health. 4 ( 79 ) . Emery. E. F. . Leatherman. N. E. . Burke. E. J. . & A ; MacIntyre. N. R. ( 1991 ) . Psychological results of a pneumonic rehabilitation plan. American college of chest doctors. 42 ( 7 ) . Engstrom. C. . Persson. L. . Larsson. S. . Ryden. A. . & A ; Sullivan. M. ( 1996 ) . Functional position and good being in chronic clogging pneumonic disease with respect to clinical parametric quantities and smoke: a descriptive and comparative survey. Thorax. 51 ( 30 ) . Gosselink. R. ( 2003 ) . Controlled external respiration and dyspnoea in patients with chronic clogging pneumonic disease. Journal of rehabilitation research and development. 40 ( 5 ) . Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease ( 2005 ) . Global scheme for the diagnosing. direction. and bar of chronic clogging pneumonic disease. Retrieved February 19. 2006. from hypertext transfer protocol: //www. goldcopd. com/Guidelineitem. asp? l1=2 & A ; l2=1 & A ; intId=989Gross. R. ( 2001 ) . Psychology: the scientific discipline of head and behaviour ( 4th ed. ) . London: Hodder and Stoughton. Jeffery. P. K. ( 2001 ) . Remodeling in asthma and chronic clogging lung disease. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. 164 ( 28 ) . Kanner. R. ( 1996 ) . Early intercession in chronic clogging pneumonic disease: a reappraisal of the lung wellness survey consequences. Medical Clinics of North America. 80 ( 4 ) . Kunik. M. . & A ; Densmore. D. ( 2002 ) . Depression and COPD. Geriatrics. 7 ( 4 ) . Kunik. M. . Roundy. K. . Veazey. C. . Souchek. J. . Richardson. P. . Wray. N. . & A ; Stanley. M. ( 2005 ) . Surprisingly high prevalence of anxiousness and depression in chronic external respiration upsets. American college of chest doctors. 127 ( 4 ) . Mahler. D. A. ( 1998 ) . Pneumonic rehabilitation. Chest. 113 ( 26 ) . Mannino. D. M. ( 2003 ) . Chronic clogging pneumonic disease: definition and epidemiology. Respiratory care diary. 48 ( 12 ) . Marieb. E. ( 2004 ) . Human anatomy & A ; physiology. San Francisco: Pearson Education. Martini. F. ( 2000 ) . Fundamentalss of anatomy and physiology. New Jersey:Prentice-Hall. McBride. P. E. ( 1992 ) . The wellness effects of smoke. Cardiovascular diseases. Medical Clinics of North America. 76 ( 2 ) . Nardini. S. . Bertoletti. R. . Rastelli. V. . & A ; Ravelli. L. . & A ; Donner. C. ( 1998 ) . Personal smoke wont and attitude toward smoking among the wellness staff of a general infirmary. Monaldi Archive for Chest disease. 53 ( 1 ) . National Emphysema Foundation ( 2006 ) . COPD – What is it? . Retrieved March 11. 2006. from hypertext transfer protocol: //emphysemafoundation. org/copdcbro. jsp # COPDWhatNational Heart Blood and Lung Institute ( 2006 ) . What Causes COPD? . Retrieved March 8. 2006. from hypertext transfer protocol: //www. nhlbi. National Institutes of Health. gov/health/dci/Diseases/Copd/Copd_Causes. htmlNational Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence ( 2004 ) . Management of chronic clogging pneumonic disease in grownups in primary and secondary attention. Retrieved February 12. 2006. from hypertext transfer protocol: //www. nice. org. uk/pdf/CG012_niceguideline. pdfNational Lung Health Education Program ( 2005 ) . What is COPD? Retrieved March 19. 2006. from hypertext transfer protocol: //www. nlhep. org/lung_copd. htmlNewcomb. P. A. . & A ; Carbone. P. P. ( 1992 ) . The wellness effects of smoke: Cancer. Medical Clinics of North America. 76 ( 2 ) . Nursing & A ; Midwifery council. ( 2004 ) . Code of professional behavior. London: Nursing & A ; Midwifery council. Ohri. C. . & A ; Steiner. M. ( 2004 ) . COPD: the disease and non drug intervention. Hospital druggist. 11. Osman. L. M. . & A ; Hyland. M. E. ( 2005 ) . Patient demands and medicine manners in COPD. The European Respiratory Society. 14 ( 7 ) . Parnell. H. ( 2000 ) . Respiratory disease: Lovingness for the carers of chronic lung disease sick persons in the community. Retrieved February 23. 2006. from hypertext transfer protocol: //www. jcn. co. uk/journal. asp? MonthNum=05 & A ; YearNum=2001 & A ; Type=backissue & A ; ArticleID=346Seedhouse. D. ( 2004 ) . Health publicity: doctrine. bias. and pattern ( 2nd ed. ) . Chichester: J. Wiley. Seeley. R. R. . Stephens. T. D. . & A ; Tate. P. ( 2000 ) . Anatomy and physiology ( 5th ed. ) . USA: McGraw- Hill higher instruction. Sandford. A. J. . Weir. T. D. . & A ; Pare. P. D. ( 1997 ) . Familial hazard factors for chronic clogging pneumonic disease. European Respiratory Journal. 10 ( 42 ) . Shaw. L. ( 2005 ) . Anatomy and physiology. Cheltenham: Nelson ThornesSinger. H. . Ruchinskas. R. . Riley. K. . Broshek. D. . & A ; Barth. J. ( 2001 ) . The psychological impact of end-stage lung disease. American college of chest doctors. 120 ( 4 ) . Strassels. S. A. . Smith. D. H. . Sullivan. S. D. . & A ; Mahajan. P. ( 1987 ) . The costs of handling COPD in the United States. American college of chest doctors. 119 ( 9 ) . Tamir. E. ( 2002 ) . The human organic structure made simple: a usher to anatomy. physiology. and disease. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone. Taylor. S. . & A ; Field. D. ( Eds. ) . ( 1993 ) . Sociology of wellness and wellness attention: an debut for nurses ( 3rd ed. ) . London: Blackwell Scientific Publications. Tinkelman. O. . & A ; Corsello. P. ( 2003 ) . Chronic clogging pneumonic disease: the impact occurs earlier than we think. American Journal of Managed Care. 9 ( 6 ) . Tortora. G. J. . & A ; Grabowski. S. R. ( 2003 ) . Principals of anatomy and physiology. New York: HarperCollins College Publishers. Turner. A. . Foster. M. . & A ; Johnson. S. E. ( 2005 ) . The pattern of occupational therapy: an debut to the intervention of physical disfunction ( 5th ed. ) . London: Churchill Livingstone. Trombly. C. A. . & A ; RadomskI. M. V. ( Eds. ) . ( 2000 ) . Occupational therapy for physical disfunction. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & A ; Wilkins. United Kingdom parliament ( 2005 ) . Memorandum by the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy. Retrieved March 9. 2006. from hypertext transfer protocol: //www. publications. parliament. uk/pa/cm200506/cmselect/cmhealth/485/485we23. htmVan Ede. L. . Yzermans. C. J. . & A ; Brouwer. H. J. ( 1999 ) . Prevalence of depression in patients with chronic clogging pneumonic disease: a systematic reappraisal. Thorax. 17 ( 4 ) . Van der Schans. C. P. . Postma. D. S. . Koeter. G. H. . & A ; Rubin. B. K. ( 1999 ) . Physiotherapy and bronchial mucous secretion conveyance. European Respiratory Journal. 13 ( 8 ) . Verra. F. . Escudier. E. . Lebargy. F. . Bernaudin. J. F. . De Cremoux. H. . & A ; Bignon. J. ( 1995 ) . Ciliary abnormalcies in bronchial epithelial tissue of tobacco users. ex- tobacco users. and nonsmokers. American Journal of Respiratory Critical Care Medicine. 151. Watson. R. ( 2000 ) . Anatomy and physiology for nurses. Edinburgh: Bailliere Tindall. Waugh. A. . & A ; Grant. A. ( 2004 ) . Ross and Wilson anatomy and physiology in wellness and wellness attention. ( 9th ed. ) . Edinburgh ; New York: Churchill Livingstone. Webb. R. . & A ; Tossell. D. ( 1999 ) . Social Issues for Carers: Towards Positive Practice ( 2nd ed. ) . London: Arnold. World Health Organization. ( 2006A ) . COPD: A definition. Retrieved February 21. 2006. from hypertext transfer protocol: //www. who. int/respiratory/copd/definition/en/index. htmlWorld Health Organization. ( 2006B ) . COPD: Causes. Retrieved February 19. 2006. from hypertext transfer protocol: //www. who. int/respiratory/copd/causes/en/index. htmlWithers. N. J. . Rudkin. S. T. . & A ; White RJ. R. J. ( 1999 ) . Anxiety and depression in terriblechronic clogging pneumonic disease: the effects of pneumonic rehabilitation. Journal of Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation. 19 ( 6 ) . Young. P. ( 1995 ) . Mastering societal public assistance ( 3rd ed. ) . London: Macmillan Press.